One Slip
by shokkun
Summary: I'm just experimenting to see if I'm okay at writing a different genre. Ichiruki, absolutely. The main idea is rather cliched, but still. I used it, so what.Please read? Please? Onegai Shimasu?
1. Chapter 1

Hmm… I can't believe I'm trying this… The one who is currently writing a bloody-gorey-horrorful fanfic is going to try and write fluff. I'm only doing this to amuse myself while I wait for the youtube video to load, and because I want to see if I can. IT WILL PROBABLY NOT CONTINUE. But then again, that's what I always write…

It was raining again, and Ichigo couldn't find a way to fall asleep. He stared absentmindedly out the window, watching the raindrops fall, and listening to the soft patter of the drops hitting pavement. There was no exact reason why he couldn't fall asleep, except for the fact that it ws raining. He sighed, and turned his back toward the window, to look at the closet. Rukia. He lied there, remembering the evnts of the day.

"Baka!" She yelled, as Ichigo took off out of the house without her, escaping from his father's "lesson". It was the summertime, and they didn't have much to do, and Isshin felt the need to explain some already known facts. There was no way to stop him once he got on a roll, and Rukia sat there, blocking out the complaining voices of Yuzu and Karin, and coming up with a way to get back at Ichigo for escaping. She smirked at her newly developed plan. It was perfect.

_Ichigo, after escaping the lecture, had went straight to the mall. He realy didn't know what he would do here, but it seemed like a reasonable hideout. Ichigo walked around, and spotted a store selling Chappy items. Ichigo immediately winced, knowing rukia'd already kill him for escaping, and would kill him twice if she found out he'd gone to the mall and not bought her anything. Ichigo approached the shop, and went in. To his dismay, Ichigo saw that the only thing sold there was Chappy merchandise. Great. Now how would he know what to get? Ichigo headed to the desk. The clerk looked up, and saw him standing there._

"_Hello, sir. Is there anything you need help with?" The blond haired man smiled fakely, and gestured toward Ichigo._

"_Actually, yes. If you know someone who is absolutely obsessed with Chappy, and is now about to kill you, what do you get the person?" Ichigo, after asking, took to scowling at one of the plushies that just happened to be staring at him. _

_The clerk frowned, and looked around the shop. His eyes wandered until he set sights on the prefect item._

"_How about you get her that?" The man pointed toward a shelf full of Chappy stuffed animals, and the one that he was pointing at was bright pink with a banner that could be written on. Perfect. Ichigo went over and grabbed the doll, hoping to dear god that Rukia liked pink. Ichigo payed the fifteen dollars for it, and left the shop. He pulled a pen out of his pocket, and took out the doll. First, he made sure that the banner was on right. Then, he wrote on the banner, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME". He smirked at the plushie, and stuffed it back into the bag. Ichigo walked home, trusting in his plan to keep himself from harm._

_Rukia waited right behind the door. She was holding something behind er back, and smiling inwardly, when her face held no emotion whatsoever. The sky outside was gray, and cloudy. It was all going completely right. Ichigo walked through the door, holding the bag that read "Chappy emporium". He looked straight forward to see Rukia standing there, holding something behind her back._

"_Oi, Rukia! What're you doing?" Ichigo shook with friht, and before he knew it, he felt a fist connect with his face, then e passed out, unconscious. Rukia took out the object in her hands. A black marker andsome pink face paint. She smiled evilly and started working. By the time she was done, Ichigo wounld be very different…_

_Ichigo woke up lying on the ground, looking up at the ceiling. The last thing he remembered was being knocked out by Rukia. But why? He wandered into the kitchen, to see his family eating dinner. As they saw him, even Karin burst into laughter._

"_What?" He ran quickly over to the bathroom. There was a resounding "SHIT!" and he sterted the water running. Ichigo's face was pink, and he now had whiskers and bunny ears. But the worst part was, it wouldn't come off. He ran up the stairs, hiding his face. He knew exactly who had done this. He burst into his room and slammed open the closet. Inside, Rukia was sitting, reading one of her perverted mangas. She looked up, and burst into laughter at seeing his face. _

"_HOW. DO. I. GET. IT. OFF." Ichigo fumed down at her, wanting to explode._

"_You've got- to use- lots of- soap…" Rukia let out between laughs. Ichigo ran into the bathroom and finally removed the paint and marker, and it was now time to do something evil… Ichigo stopped for a moment. He felt the Chappy emporium bag, still hanging from his hand. He looked down and pulld out the stuffed toy. It still had his message written n the banner. 'Too late for that, Ichigo' Ichigo thought to himself. But, anyways, he walked back to the closet, and knocked on the door. Rukia opened it, and Ichigo handed her the plushie._

"_CHAPPY!" She squeaked, but then noticed the banner. "Please.. Don't… Kill.. me…" She stopped at this, and looked up at Ichigo, who was anticipating her reaction. "I'm sorry…" Ichigo smiled, but then scowled again._

"_Don't you dare paint my face like that again, midget," This earned him a kick to the face and an angry Rukia. But of course, it was always like that. After defeating Aizen, they had had nothing better to do._

Ichigo fell asleep, thinking of the day. He hadn't exactly enjoyed it, but at least it only included a Rukia-inflicted injury once. Normall, there were seven or eight.

The next morning, Ichigo woke up way too early, at five, to find Rukia missing from the closet.

"Dear kami… what am I going to do with her?" Ichigo found he couldn't fall back asleep, so he got up and wandered around the house. He found Rukia, sitting on the couch, drinking coffee.

"Oi. Rukia. What are doing up so early? And why are you drinking coffee?" Ichigo scowled down at her.

"I could ask you the same," she looked back up at him, taking another sip of coffee.

"I didn't now you liked coffee…" Ichigo realized, looking at the coffee machine. "Didn't know you knew how to make it, either…"

"I don't know how to make coffee, I just sort of guessed. The stuff spilled twice all over my hand!" Rukia held up a red, callused hand. For some reason, she looked proud of herself. Ichigo sweat dropped. He could now see the puddles of brown liquid on the floor. He would certainly be forced to clean that up later… He headed over there, and cleaned up the spills. Then, he went over to the sink, and turned the ice-cold water. He took out some burn cream, and stood there, thinking.

"Rukia. Get over here," Rukia looked up, and figured it was a good idea to go over. Once she got over, Ichigo grabbed her wrist and stuck her burnt hand under he water. She winced at the initial shock, but realized that her hand felt a little better. Then, Ichigo dried off her hand and rubbed the burn cream on. This hurt much more than Rukia expected, so she let out a small sound before remembering the time. No one spoke for awhile, bu then Ichigo looked back towards her burnt hand.

"Remember. Its not a good thing to burn yourself, midget," Rukia punched his arm, but then went back to the couch. Ichigo went over to et some of the coffee himself, he really needed it. But of course, when he got over to the coffee maker, he realized the whole thing was cold. Rukia had shut it off. Ichigo could swear, Rukia couldn't get anything right. He sighed. Too bad. At least… But his thoughts were invaded by two doors appearing out of nowhere.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo whisper-screamed, as two people came out of the door. Just his luck. It had to be the two shinigami he hate the most. Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Byakuya. Great. What now, did they want to kill him for letting Rukia burn herself? No… That was just Byakuya. Renji could care less.

"Rukia, Kurosaki" Byakuya looked at them in turn. "Your immediate presence is needed in soul society," His eyes caught Rukia's hand, which was now bandaged up. "Kurosaki. What happened to Rukia?" He glared at Ichigo, and then at the coffee cup in his hands. Ichigo could swear that the temperature went down as Byakuya glared.

"What did the coffee ever do to you?" Asked Ichigo, noticing Byakuya's glare not moving from the porcelain cup. Byakuya scowled, and restated the question.

"Why are there bandages on my sister's hand, Kurosaki?" He looked back at Rukia's bandaged hand.

"Well, she decided to make a cup of coffee, but she apparently spilled it over her a couple of times. So I fixed it up for her," Ichigo replied, taking a sip of his own coffee. Byakuya stopped glaring, and began to inquire about coffee.

"Coffee? Since when does Rukia like… "Coffee"?" Byakuya stared disgusted at the poor cup. Ichigo was tempted to restate is earlier taunt. Renji looked horrified at the thought of coffee, and appeared to be shivering.

"T-taichou… Coffee is a disgusting human drink, normally used to gain energy. It should not be drunk as "Black Coffee", without any sugar and cream, unless the specific person drinking is an expert…" Byakuya and Renji both looked down, to see that both Ichigo and Rukia were drinking Black Coffee, as Renji had said. Byakuya cocked an eyebrow at Renji's strange idea of coffee. It appeared to be just like any other drink. What was so bad?

"May I please try some of this… Coffee?" Byakuya looked down, again glaring at the innocent dup of coffee in Ichigo's hand. Ichigo almost spit out his current mouthful when he heard Byakuya ask for Coffee. He muttered "sure" and went over to get some.

"Black?" Ichigo inquired. He would probably say no, but you always had to ask.

"Yes," Ichigo came up with a reason for this. Byakuya wanted to prove himself… Now this would be fun. Ichigo handed Byakuya the cup of coffee, and the noble glared at the cup. Too bad for Ichigo, because he found it quite funny to see his cup of coffee being glared at…

Byakuya took a sip of the coffee, and spat it out, holding his throat, eyes wide. Everyone jerked back at this. The noble, Mr. I-don't-have-any-emotions-and-don't-react-to-anything, had just _spat_ _out_ a mouthful of coffee… Renji had slowly backed away, and Ichigo was standing there, smirking. Rukia was just there, watching, mouth opening and closing multiple times before she actually spoke.

"Niisama?" She too backed away, and shot a glare at Ichigo. Now Byakuya realized what he had just done, and swallowed the last bit of coffee reluctantly.

"Why do you enjoy this foul drink, Rukia?" He glared back at Ichigo's poor little cup of coffee, with bloodlust in his eyes. This time, Ichigo was truly put off by his glare, and hid the cup.

"Well, I don't think its foul… I think its quite good, after you get over the taste of it without sugar or cream. Plus, it has lots of caffeine so as to keep you running throughout the day…" Rukia spoke, the last sentence spoken with her innocent schoolgirl voice. Byakuya now took his time to glare daggers at Rukia's cup of Coffee. Was it only Ichigo that remembered the word "Immediately" in Byakuya's message?

"C'mon! I thought we were supposed to get there immediately!" Byakuya looked up, and so did Rukia and Renji. They all looked back at the open doors and decided that it would be a good idea to go through.

When they reached the Soul Society, they heard voices mumbling around the corner, so they went around to see what it was about. In the hallway, it appeared that the captains were having a meeting. But why here? Ichigo an Rukia moved in closer, and started hearing words like "dead" and "hollow". Ichigo shook as he heard the word "vasto lorde" muttered, and thought of that trash-loving Ulquiorra. Ichigo had no clue what the meeting was about, but it certainly wasn't anything good.

"Kuchiki Taichou, Abarai Fukutaichou, Kurosaki, Kuchiki. There are about 100 hollows and a fully formed vasto lordes in seiretei. The meeting room has been completely destroyed, and several seated shinigami have died already. We all think that we can easily defeat them, but we need a special team to destroy the Vasto Lorde. That will be you, Kurosaki, you Kuchiki, and you Kuchiki Taichou," Renji's jaw hit the floor.

"Why am I not included?" Renji looked beet red, and Ichigo just couldn't help but think how well his face matched his hair.

"Because, you're shikai and bankai are not a good match for this one. Lets just say that when Yachiru saw it, she screamed- "Vasto Lordes kun kawaii". The head captain looked up to renji. "It's a kitty arrancar," Ichigo scowled. A kitty? He had better things to do than to fight kitties…. But then again… It was a vasto lordes…. But he just coldn't change the fact that it was a kitty…

"Meh. It's a cat right? Won't it just go away?" The head captain looked at him and stroked his beard. But suddenly, an alarm wet off, and all the captains looked more worrisome.

"Change of plans. Zaraki Taichou. Yachiru Fukutaichou. Unohana Taichou. Go and get the hollows that have gone to the human world. Kurosaki, Kuchiki. You cannot leave seiretei." The head captain stopped, and the meeting broke up. Byakuya let a smirk crawl onto his face. Revenge… But before everyone left, the head captain stayed to talk to the remaining people, Byakuya, Rukia, and Ichigo.

"Rukia. You, as normal, will be staying in the Kuchiki manor. Kurosaki. As of all the damage done to the empty housing in seiretei… You will too be staying at the Kuchiki manor," Byakuya's eyes widened. In his mind- NUUUUUUUS!-. Ichigo held back his true opinion, and sent back Byakuya's smirk. He just glared back at the head captain, and Ichigo could swear that he _smelled_ bloodlust. Rukia looked as happy as ever that Ichigo would be staying at the sam place as her, oblivious to Ichigo's refusal to stay at the manor, and Byakuya's refusal to let him. But of course, there was nothing they could do about it. So Ichigo went to the Kuchiki manor, and was given a room, on a completely different floor and side of the house as Rukia. Ichigo of course didn't really care, except for the fact that he ahd to walk over a thousand feet to leave the house.

The next morning, Ichigo went down to the kitchen early, along with Rukia. He walked into the doorway, and Rukia was about three feet away from him. But one of the cooks had dropped a pot, over which Ichigo tripped. He fell, and in the process knocked down Rukia. As a side effect, they both yelped, and when they hit the ground, Ichigo was kissing Rukia. As an unlucky extra, Byakuya walked in the exact moment they fell, not witnessing Ichigo trip. Byakuya's eyes widened at what he was seeing. Ichigo finally realized that someone else had come in, so he got up ad immediately flushed bright red, along with Rukia.

"Heh… Niisama…."

Well… Tell me how much that sucked. I really need to know, 'cause I've gotta get better at writing random stuff like this, because I already know that I'm good at writing Bloody-Gorey-Horrorey stuff. Just need to get good at everything!

NOTE: This takes place about 1 year after Aizen's Rebellion.

I need to advance the story before it gets funny…


	2. The aftermath

Sorriez. My computer got a bad virus, and wasn't able to type anything. So, I'll give you all special plushies for waiting… (Gives Plushies) Heh. Sorry for the super short chapter. I only have ten mintes to write this before my computer is completely overthrown by the virus… ACK. Deadlines…

Disclaimer- I don't even own the Bleach I wash my clothes with, okay?

Ichigo stared up at the man who had just entered the room. Kuchiki Byakuya. Ichigo stared, unable to come up for an excuse as to why he had just been kissing Rukia. Of course, the truth was too completely plausible, so it would never work.

Rukia had already stood up, and made note of the death glare now being shot at Ichigo. She turned away and tried to slip out of the room but…

"Where do you think you're going?" He turnd his icy glare toward Rukia, who froze still. Byakuya looked mad as hell, and she of all people knew not to mess with him when he was angry…

"Umm… I was… going to…-," He kept his glare straight at her. "Go see…. Ummm… go see… head captain yamamoto!" Rukia really had no time to think of why sh would want to see him, but at least it was an excuse… But Byakuya wasn't buyig it.

"Ichigo"His gaze shifted back toward him. "What were you just doing?" Ichigo could clearly feel something screwy forming in the back of Byakuya's mind.

Wait…does Byakuya think…?! That's wrong… gah… 

Ichigo tried to coe up with something confusing…."If you're thinking what I think you are, your probably thinking that I think I know what you're thinking, in which case you'd use reverse psychology to make me think that I think I know what you're thinking, in which case I really don't have a clues what either me or you are thinking," Of course, Ichigo's attempt was futile, and Byakuya sent back an even more utterly confusing statement.

"Yes, but if you think you know what I'm thinking then that proves that you truly do know what you are thinking, in which case you cannot be correct about thinking of what I am thinking about what you are thinking. If that is truly the case, then you truly know exactly what I mean in what I am thinking about what you are thinking. You also appear to have a very large thought on thinking about what other people thin you are thinking about them, which only you know about yourself, in which case making assumptions shows no interesting value under your specific circumstances of thinking about what others are thinking," Wow. That one was more confusing. Ichigo sat there for awhile, stunned by the immense amount of "thinking" put into that statement.

"Could you repeat that?" Ichigo inquired, picking himself off the floor.

"No. But, I will repeat words previous- What the hell did you do to Rukia?" Rukia decided she should intervene here. At least, Nii-sama might believe her…

"Niisama! Stop! Just hear this, please!" Rukia pleaded with him, until he finally gave up and listened to what she had to say. This proved to have hit the jackpot, for Byakuya let out a sigh of relief, and stopped glaring. Ichigo felt relieved when he saw Byakuya leave. If he had decided that Ichigo had done anything "unacceptable" with his sister, he would have been chopped up by girly pink petals by now.

"ICHIGO!" He heard his name called out by Rukia, who was now fuming. "What in hell's name were you thinking, you bastard!" She slapped him across the face, and he took it, just sitting there like a mannequin. Rukia had appeared to let out all of her steam, and fell back down into her chair.

For Ichigo, it hadn't been shock that had forced him into that state of being like a dummy; it was that memory of just a few minutes ago, lying there. His kiss with Rukia. He contemplated that it was normal for him to feel like this. He was a teenager, right? He was allowed to blame hormones for lots of things, especially things like this… Ichigo rested his head in his hand. Was this really normal?

Again, sorry for the short chapter. It took me a little over nine minutes… I gotta save this! ACK!

BYEREALLYFAST!


	3. odd thoughts

**I OWE YOU SUCH AN APOLOGY. GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI! HONTO NI SUMIMASEN DESHITA! Explanation: first, my computer got a virus. REBOOT, LOSE DATA. It works for awhile… then it gets yet another virus. But this virus HATES ME. Every time I would open up an internet window , JUST ONE, about one hundred little internet windows would open and I would have to alt+f4 them all. Then the unthinkable happened; I lost my wi fi. Then went my ability to get internet through a cable. And then my computer died altogether (it wouldn't even start up) That happened over the course of… I can't even remember how long. Then I was computer-less for SO LONG. And when I finally got a new one, I had completely lost interest in anything like this. Then, I suddenly remembered this fic and decided that I would write a chapter. IM SOOOOOOO SORRY….**

Recap: Ichigo and rukia had been called to soul society to fight some adjuchas and a vasto lords. The fight was cancelled since the hollows escaped to the world of living, leaving Ichigo and rukia stranded in sereitei in the kuchiki manor. ichigo had fallen down and accidentally kissed rukia. Of course, Byakuya- _niisama_ came in without seeing ichigo trip, and started assuming things. He got into a strange conflict with ichigo.

Over the course of the next few days, everything went as planned. Ichigo continued to wait longingly for his return to the world of the living. Byakuya wanted to kick him out of his manor. Rukia didn't know what the hell was going through either of the men's minds, so she kept quiet.

That is, until something rather horrible happened. Well, it was horrible for Ichigo, it sounded like "you will be sent to hell" to Byakuya. Rukia thought "yay, ichigo!". For the rest of the world, especially those residing in the world of living, it could be a nightmare.

The head captain had just received news from shinigami he had sent to the world of the living. A connection directly to hueco mundo had been found leading directly into a populated area. The thing was, It wouldn't close. Ichigo was being forced to live with the ice-cold noble for how many more days, and neither he nor Byakuya was too pleased about it. Rukia was just glad that ichigo was able to stay a bit longer, since after the incident a few days ago, she was almost certain that Nii-sama was going to have her stay in sereitei.

What a wonderful time they were going to have!

"Ichigo!" yelled rukia, still not quite sure where in the manor his room was. She had been 

sent by Byakuya to go "drag kurosaki down here" for breakfast. Rukia had decided that she wasn't going to interfere in whatever strange conflict there was between her Nii-sama and ichigo. So she just cooperated with whatever Byakuya said and acted exactly the same as she always did around ichigo.

Back in his room, ichigo lied there staring up at the ceiling. He really didn't care if he was late to breakfast, he wanted some time to think. For some reason, that stupid day he had accidentally kissed rukia kept coming back to his mind. Why? He really didn't know, but he was trying to figure it out. He closed his eyes and scowled. Why did he care so much anyway? Rukia didn't seem to have a problem so why should he?

Slowly but surely approaching Ichigo's room (without knowing it) was Rukia. She still hadn't found him, but she was determined to do what her Nii-sama asked. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, and heard someone muttering from a room rather close to her. She snuck up to the dorr, and listened…

"She doesn't care does she… why am I thinking like this in the first place, it was an accident! I kissed her by accident, why does it matter?" Rukia's eyes widened. Ichigo? She slowly moved away from the door. Ichigo? Was he… was he _still_ thinking about that? She put her hand up to her head and thought about it for a minute.

Wait! Did this mean that Ichigo… she felt herself flush red, but then shook away the thought. No, ichigo didn't even… she just couldn't think of him… he was ichigo, for gods sake! He wouldn't even care, right? Just forget that happened. Please forget…

She got herself together, and knocked on Ichigo's door/

"hm?" he inquired, trying to sound sleepy.

"Ichigo… Nii-sama wants you down for breakfast,"

Oh. So it was rukia.

"I'm tired, go away midget." Ichigo

"…I-CHI-GO!" She said, and slammed her fist on the door. Little did she know, Ichigo had already gotten out of bed and headed toward the door. And the door just happened to be unlocked, so when rukia slammed the door… It swung right in and hit him in the face.

"AGH!" yelled ichigo, holding his bleeding nose. "What the hell was that?"

"Well, it was a door, ichigo." Rukia replied, watching him try to stop the blood from hitting the _very_ _expensive_ carpets. Rukia sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. There was absolutely no way that the Kurosaki Ichigo she knew had been thinking about such an insignificant event….

As she walked away, she yelled back to ichigo. "You'd better come quick, ichigo, or Nii-sama will be… disappointed,"

"I FINK MY NOSH ISH BWOKEN! GAWD DAMN IT!" That was ichigo again.

When rukia walked back into the dining hall, she got an inquisitive look from her brother. She must have been gone longer than he had expected…

"I didn't know where his room was, Nii-sama… and he refu-," Right before She finished her sentence, in came ichigo holding his hand up to hi heavily bleeding nose. This earned a confused look from Byakuya and a smirk from Rukia.

"Uhh… My nosh ish bwoken, and I dunno how ta fix it," His odd speech was due to the fact that he was holding his nose rather tightly, and his hand was sort of covering his mouth… it sounded sort of like an odd speech impediment.

Rukia couldn't help but laugh at how he looked. He just looked… funny.

"What are you waffing at, midget? I don't shee your nosh bwoken!"

"You didn't get any of that filthy blood on anything except yourself, correct?" Ichigo turned his head to see Byakuya, staring coldly at the mess on ichigo's hands. Ichigo started to look worried, and looked away.

"I… tried to stop the bleeding with the white towels in the bathroom in my room…"

Byakuya pause to think, and then sighed, rather disappointed.

"You owe me…400,000 yen. (Aprox. (very approximately) 4000 USD)

"FO HUNDWED SHOUZAND?" Yelled ichigo, quite distressed.

"Approximately. The exact is probably more, but 400,000 should do…"

"FOR SOME TOWELS??" screamed ichigo, removing his hand from his nose, letting the blood drip on the carpet below.

Byakuya scowled, but started thinking. That carpet must have cost…

"1,400,000 with that carpet, now. Still just approximately," Ichigo's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to yell, but then fainted.

"N-nii-sama?"

"yes, Rukia?"

"Couldn't you just... get the towels and carpet cleaned?"

"Most likely."


	4. Are we clear?

Oh yay! I spent my entire weekend at a convention what fun xD! Of course… I had no one to share said fun with…. My friend was in england… wahh…… but oh well. It was worth it to buy all of the Japanese imported food and manga… yay, pocky! But okay. Im back on track…

Note: I had better not own bleach. If I did… there would be MANY changes.

"Kyaaaaaaaah……" groaned ichigo, looking at the paper that byakuya had just handed him.

_I can't believe he was serious, I mean, for a carpet and some towels? He's really got in for me, doesn't he…. Fine. I can play that game too, Byakuya!_

Ichigo's nose was now bandaged up, after having woken up on the floor in the dining hall. Ichigo could still not believe the sums byakuya expected him to cough up for some bloodstains. Really, the man got bloodstains all over his haori and 10 mansions of a scarf and cleaned it right off! But he had to pay the man back in full for replacements? He really hoped that this nightmare would be over soon…

"Get up, Kurosaki. I don't need you to further stain my possessions," Byakuya lookeddown at him with his normal icy glare.

"ugh," Ichigo hauled himself up and looked once again at the paper he held. "You really expect me to pay you this much? Theres no way I can give you this much…" Ichigo held up the paper and picked up his head, now looking at the Six on Byakuya's haori.

"whoever said anything about paying me back? I have… something different in mind,"

"Can I guess that it won't be fun, whatever it is,"

Byakuya stood there and thought for a moment, then turned back to face ichigo.

"Probably not your idea of fun, nor exciting.

"And so what is this most horrible thing?" Ichigo had a detached look on his face. Byakuya could easily see he wasn't paying any attention…

"Kurosaki Ichigo," He spoke, catching ichigo's attention. "I want you… to work at my manor to repay me the money,"

Ichigo gaped at him, eyes wide, jaw hanging somewhere near his feet.

Was the man kidding? Work here? N-no… there was absolutely no way…

Ichigo stopped his train of thoughts and imagined himself strangling Byakuya to death. What a pleasant sight….

"I am assured that would be a suitable arrangement, seeing as you have no money and you're here anyway, am I correct, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Byakuya knew somewhere that this would probably lead in no good direction for either Kurosaki nor himself, but working in the manor would be much worse than dealing with one kurosaki, correct?

Ichigo, readying his refusal speech, had his head to the ground. "Uh huh, sure," WAIT. Where did that come from?! He didn't mean to… he didn't mean to agree, he meant to _fiercely_ decline the offer! Ah, god damn his conscience! But, this wouldn't be so bad would it? He could just… make it horrible for Byakuya. Ichigo saw no gain or loss for either of them through this deal, so Byakuya must've had something planned… He would have to ruin that, and make Byakuya's life miserable.

It couldn't be that tough, right?

Not True.

"So… uhhh… what exactly do you want me to do?" Ichigo inquired, looking at Byakuya.

Once he was able to figure out what he was supposed to do, then he could ruin it.

"You should be cleaning the house…" A servant came over nad gave him a rag.

"you should be helping out in the kitchen…" Another one came over and gave him and apron like thing.

"Gaurding the front gates…" A guard gave him a navy colored guard's haori and a white uniform.

"and also guarding the quarters of Kuchiki Rukia during the day," He put specific emphasis on "during the day".

Ichigo looked down, befuddled, at the mess of clothes and such. He frowned when he looked at 

the apron. Oh boy. What a great time he was going to have.

"Oh and kurosaki… You are to guard the front gates from 12:00 until 6:00 am. Am I clear? And I want no dozing off. And if I find that you've been sleeping on the job… or slacking off anywhere else, for that matter, you can say goodbye to that head of your's"

"…You may be saying that Kuchiki Byakuya, but are you really capable of doing it?"

"Would you like to find out?"

Ichigo had a malicious smile on his face as he backed away from byakuya slowly, and readied to pull out his katana when…

"Nii-sama! Ichigo! Stop!" She grabbed ichigo's wrist and looked at byakuya. He nodded, and removed his hand that had drifted off to the hilt of his katana.

"Rukia," He looked at her.

"Hai, Nii-sama…"

"Please do not get involved in this matter," He was looking at ichigo now, his eyes staring icily at him.

"Hai, Nii-sama…" She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself. Her eyes drifted over to the left, but she backed away with her head down.

Ichigo looked over at her, and his mind ran back to earlier that day when he had been in his room, thinking about that accident… He still didn't know why, but thinking about that did something. It didn't bother him, it didn't make him feel good. But now, with byakuya around, he could tell what that feeling was. It was unease. He looked back at byakuya. Was he afraid… of Byakuya finding out what he was thinking?

"Kurosaki. You will do as you are told. Is that clear?"

"Uh-huh," Ichigo turned around immediately and headed towards his room. This was bound to be one hell of a nightmare.

And as for Byakuya? He was just going to sit there and wait for ichigo to fall apart.

Okay, from now on, im going to _try_ and write more per chapter, starting with the next… theres no guarantee, but I will gaive it a shot…. Please review! I'll give you plushies/cookies/pocky if you do!


	5. Aprons and a few thoughts

**Yay for chapter five! Sorry for the slight delay xP. School is slowly creeping up on me… Oh well. Here goes!**

**And I still don't own bleach (sighs)…**

Ichigo woke up the next morning rather dazed. He let out a yawn and rolled over under the covers. He searched the back of his mind to remember the dream he had had… From what he could recall… it had at least something to do with his current situation of being Donut Boy to high and mighty byakuya.

He gave a tormented sigh. He really shouldn't be having to go through this trouble… He closed his eyes and fell back asleep…

_(in ichigo's dream…)_

_He sat up, startled by a clattering noise._

"_Meh. Who woke me up…-" Ichigo yawned, even sleepy within the confines of his imagination._

"_Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo's head spun a 180 to see the owner of the voice. _

_N-no… that couldn't be… NOW BYAKUYA HAD EVEN INVADED HIS MIND!?_

_Ichigo's mouth hung open, jaw down to the floor._

"_Doushite, Kamisama? WHY ME!!"_

"_Why you what, kurosaki? I came to tell you that you are supposed to be helping in the kitchen and guarding the front gates and cleaning the house and-" The 'dream byakuya' put his hand on his chin and continued to list off things, like re-painting his room, and polishing his squad's zanpakutous._

_Ichigo's eyes rolled into the back of his head. This was not good…_

_When ichigo fell backwards and fainted, the last thing he heard was;_

"_And you are ordered to address me as Kuchiki Byakuya Sama. That is all,"_

_Ichigo next woke up in a rather dark area. Actually, it wasn't just __**rather dark**__. It was pitch black "help me cuz I cant see" dark. But, as far as ichigo could tell, he was in a rather small space… But his thinking was cut off by the sound of someone's voice._

"_Ichigo… why are you in the closet?" That was rukia! Wait… closet? That meant…_

………… "_aw shit"… said ichigo, his eyes widening as he realized his current situation._

_Byakuya would petal him to pieces if he was found inside of the closet with rukia!_

_Just then they heard footsteps outside the closet door…_

"_Rukia? Kurosaki?" Ichigo felt like his head was going to explode…_

"_Ara, Nii-sama? In the closet…" Said rukia sleepily._

_Ichigo still couldn't see anything, but he searched for an escape from this terrible situation._

_The closet door slowly started to creak open, and ichigo felt himself start to sweat…_

"_Godnogodnogodnogodno…!" he said as the door was about to open fully…_

Ichigo woke up and sat upright in his bed. Okay… now that dream could mean one of two things… he was seriously needing to recheck his values, seeing how the dream included byakuya. He shuddered. Or, he had a thing for rukia. WAIT. He already went through this before; hormones… teenage hormones could be blamed for everything…

"Ugh" he groaned and pulled himself out of bed. "that reminds me… I'm supposed to help out in the kitchen, right?" Ichigo picked his head up, and looked towards the door. Ah. He could survive without washing up for one day…

But then his eyes caught a note on the sidetable, underneath which was the apron- thing he'd been given yesterday…

Best wishes from Nii-sama,

-Rukia

P.S. You absolutely have to wear the apron… theres no way around it…

Oh. Great. Now what? So he had to look like a fool… Was it really needed? He looked back down at the note.

"Damn you, rukia…"

He read;

P.P.S -yes it really is needed. Now quit whining and get your ass down here.

Ichigo wanted to hit his head against the wall. Apron? An apron? If he survived this ordeal, Byakuya's life would truly become a living hell…

Ichigo dragged himself out of the bed and shredded the note into pieces. He glared angrily at the apron. He tentatively grasped the fabric of the apron, and picked it up.

"Your kidding me…" ichigo muttered, bewildered, not only was it an apron, it was a _silk_ apron. The apron was one thing, but the silk was an entirely different matter. Kurosaki ichigo did not wear anything _soft _or _silky_…

He gulped as he brought the straps around himself and tied them in the back. Finally, he had forced himself to don the apron. He headed toward the door, but stopped and peered into the bathroom…

"Hell no," He groaned as he took a look at himself in the full length mirror. "You've got to be kidding me…" The apron looked horrible on him. He looked like he was trying to do an imitation of his father.

And ultimately failing.

This was one of the worst moments of his life.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo trudged down to the kitchen, hunched over and cursing Byakuya's Kenseikan-ridden head. He earned multiple stares from the chefs as he worked his way through the massive group of people in the middle of preparing breakfast. He looked up when he heard a man shout "QUIET!"

The guy was short, probably only 5 foot. He scanned the room, and then continued.

"Ahem. Today, as usual we will be preparing breakfast for the household…-" Ichigo heard people start talking amongst themselves. Hm. So they must get this speech every morning… he kinda felt bad for them. "And he specifically asked that a "Kurosaki Ichigo" make his. Hm. He must like that kid…" Ichigo's eyes widened. Wait a second. He didn't even know how to cook, nevertheless cook for Byakuya! And… if he made a mistake, or tried to ruin his food, he would know it had been him… damn!

" and this kurosaki ichigo, who ever you are… If you make a single mistake, I'll have your head," The short man said, leaving ichigo aghast.

"You seem… a bit distracted," Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see a man, about in his twenties. Ichigo looked him up and down. He was certainly wearing odd clothes for a job in the kitchen… A vest with a hood, underneath which he seemed to have a short sleeved jacket, yet again underneath which was a long sleeved shirt. The vest was bright white, and it had numbers all over it written in dark black. His hood was pulled up to cover the right side of his face, even though he wore a visor over his eyes. His hair was midnight black and he wore simple cargo pants with a black waistband, attached to which was a worn-looking piece of pink cloth.

"may I help you?" questioned ichigo.

"It seems to me that you are new here. I am also assuming that you are working here under similar circumstances to mine," Oh boy. A guy who spoke in a monotone voice with no emotion. It was another byakuya!

"It depends, what are these 'circumstances'?"

"…"

"Well, gonna answer?"

"Not fully." Not fully? What was that supposed to mean?!

"I'm not sure I get it…"

"I will tell you but not fully. Very simple. To put it quickly, I made the mistake of trying to rob a member of this clan while they were in Rukongai."

Ichigo stared for a moment. Wow. So Byakuya was torturing him for money too?

"If you don't mind my appearance, I'd be happy to show you how things work,"

That was an appealing offer.

Ichigo obliged, and his new friend (friend?) started to show him around the kitchen.

"Hey, if you don't mind, whats your name?" Ichigo inquired, truly curious.

"…" The man looked at him but paused before speaking. "Sunda,"

Hm. Sunda. Like clear water? (A/N Sunda means clear, as in water, or eyes) The was interesting. The name obviously didn't fit the guy. He was impassive, and ichigo couldn't tell what was going on in his mind. This guy was the exact opposite of clear.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Have you gotten used to the kitchen?" Inquired sunda, looking at ichigo.

"yeah, I think I got it," There was silence.

"what is your name?" Sunda turned his head back towards ichigo.

"Kurosaki Ichigo,"

"…"

"well, bye then," Ichigo said and walked away. He started to get the pots and pans he had ready to cook. As he worked, he had a thought pass through his mind.

_Maybe, just maybe I can have a fellow conspirator in mission: Destroy Byakuya… _

**Ulquiorra00:Hm. Sorry about the OC. I just thought ichigo needed someone to help him out in destroying Byakuya… But I know exactly how I'm gonna use him, don't worry!**

**Sunda: Why didn't you let me tell ichigo…(BANG!) (is knocked out)**

**Ulquiorra00: No, bad Sunda. Don't say that. Bad.**

**Ulquiorra00: Sorry, BAI.**


	6. lots of dust and a little planning

**Im back! Didn't mean to leave this alone for so long, but I was away for awhile, and school just started again and I think I might suffocate under the miles of stuff ive got to do already… but I found some time to write, so here it is…**

Ichigo groaned as he looked up at the bookshelves decorating the Kuchiki Manor's library. There had to be at least 50 shelves, all stretching up all the way to the ceiling, probably around 100 feet up.

"so many books…" Ichigo mumbled, walking up to one. "I've got to clean all of this?" he inquired, scanning the room. He sighed, and started dusting the shelves. Right after breakfast, he had been instructed by Byakuya to clean the house, starting with the library, which, according to him, hadn't been cleaned in years due to its vast size.

Ichigo looked around and tried to decide on a decent spot to start his cleaning duties. He tried to find the dustiest spot, running his fingers along the rows of books. He stopped when he felt his finger collide into about a centimeter of dust buildup.

"Dust… he muttered, eyes widening as he looked at shelf. This one shelf looked like it hadn't been touched in around 50 years, as opposed to the rest, which were just a bit in need of a touch up. This shelf looked like it would need to be completely remodeled.

He picked chose one out of the copious volumes, and flipped it open, watching the dust fly off the book and into the air. Ichigo easily blew it away from his face, and turned his eyes down to the book.

_Family records- 1700-2000_

Family records, huh? Perfect. Ichigo smiled maliciously as he flipped through the pages. It would be rather interesting… and possibly helpful… to know a bit more about his foe before he stepped onto the battlefield… He searched the pages until he finally found the name he was looking for.

_Kuchiki Byakuya_

Ichigo had found it. Byakuya's personal info. This could be useful…

_28__th__ head of clan_

_Captain of sixth squad_

_Born 31__st__ of January_

_No siblings_

_Wife-Kuchiki Hisana- deceased_

_Sister(adopted)-Kuchiki Rukia_

_Wife died of unknown disease after 5 years of marriage_

_Sister was adopted year after wife's death_

_Both marrying and adopting the two were against the traditions of the clan, making Byakuya have gone against the clan's wishes more than any other clan leader._

So… his birthday was on the 31st… that's was only a week away. Ichigo's smile widened even more as an idea came to mind…

Surprise party.

If he could just get Rukia to go along with it…

"Hey ichigo!"

Speak of the devil.

" Yeah, rukia?"

She ran over to him and looked around at the shelves.

"You… haven't done anything, have you…?" She said, looking at him with a frown. "You'll never be able to pay Nii-sama back if you don't actually do any work, ichigo!"

"Rukia…"

What was this, a party? Or will anyone who's name you say appear?

"Ukitake-taichou wants you back at the squad barracks…" Byakuya's eyes wandered to the book in ichigo's hands. "Kurosaki… You are supposed to be cleaning, not reading… Or do I have to keep a watch on you?"

Byakuya could swear he saw the boy's eyes roll back into his head when he recommended watching him. He inwardly smirked. It was a childish thought, yes… but he was winning, if you considered that ichigo had yet to aggravate him even once…

No… nonononononono! He was not, absolutely NOT having Byakuya following him around 24/7! It would just be… creepy!

Byakuya's eyes darted down to the volume in ichigo's hands once again, this time more carefully reading the label. Quicker than ichigo could react, Byakuya had snatched the book away from him and was looking at the page Ichigo had been studying. He looked up from the book frowning, and closed it.

"What on earth were you doing reading that?" He inquired, showing an almost unnoticeable hint of anger in his voice. Ichigo took a step back, eyes wide, and picked up his feather duster and began to work. "that's what I thought… said byakuya, replacing the volume, and then turning to leave, said one last thing. "If you refuse to do what you are told, then perhaps I should ask interest on your debt…"

Ichigo felt himself begin to sweat, and then finally answered byakuya.

"I'd rather not pay you any more than I have to, byakuya…"

Luckily, Byakuya had already left.

Ichigo finally took up the task of cleaning the shelves with his feather duster and rag.

It was not a pretty sight.

Ichigo was trying to work at such high speeds that the all the dust he got off of the shelves either fell on the ground or in his hair. So far, he was about halfway done with Shunpo-cleaning the library. Amazingly enough, it had only taken a half hour to finish this much…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in his room, Byakuya sat planning. He knew that brat was up to something. Why else would he be reading _his _ records? It was useless to guess what he was trying to do, but he could at least prepare himself…

Whilst at the same time, rukia sat pondering the same thing.

She had seen ichigo reading the records, but didn't care to inquire as to why. Of course, she was curious, but she wasn't going to ask him. It wasn't any of her business what he plotted against her Nii-sama anyway… Or was it?

The idea hit her pretty quick, and she tried best as she could to find an answer. Whose side was she on, anyway?

Should she try and stop ichigo from damaging Nii-sama's reputation?

Or should she encourage him because it would be;

A: amusing

B: worth it

And C: Byakuya was wrong and was just torturing ichigo for amusent

… … … … … … … … … … … … ?

Gah. It was so hard to figure out…

Maybe she should just sit back and watch them claw at each other's throats?

Nah. She wanted to be involved for some reason. If something interesting was going to happen, then she was going to be included!

**Next chapter will be interesting, I swear! …… Maybe… I dunno, we'll see!**

**Oh and sorry this chapter was kinda short, but I wanted to separate it from the next part, which will be written shortly. Maybe.**


	7. This will take awhile, won't it?

**Alrighty… ive got another chapter (though late it might be…) ! And so… I'd like to warn everyone that these updates might halt for awhile… at least until the end of the marking period xP… because currently I have astronomy… which goes under my "most hated subjects" category… and because the teacher is crazy. Its just supposed to be an everyday course… until he decides to give us the labs that the college astronomy students do when they come to our school (apparently at random intervals. I was not previously aware of this…) Oh well…**

"Meh…" sighed ichigo as he stood guard at the front gates of the kuchiki Mansion. It was much too late… and so far, he was the only one on duty.

He had actually taken to counting the sakura petals as they fell off the tree nearby.

Of course, he was somewhat watching the gate. Just not thoroughly.

He took in a deep breath, and sighed again.

Oh how fortuitous he was to be assigned the night shift!

Ichigo leaned his head up and looked at the sky. It had occurred to him awhile ago that he should continue formulating the plan for Operation: Surprise Party during his copious hours of, seemingly, leisure time…

Ichigo leaned against a pillar of the stone gateway, and was about to fall asleep, when he felt a rather strong reiatsu heading his way… The strange thing was, It was coming from the mansion, not the road.

He leaned over and peered through the gateway… to see the man from the kitchen, Sunda, heading towards him. Ichigo's eyes widened, he hadn't expected to see him at this time!

"…" sunda looked at Ichigo, and continued walking past the gate. Of course there was his "duty" as the guard to keep people both _in _and out, but to hell with it, why was sunda leaving the mansion?

"Oi!" yelled ichigo, catching sunda's attention. "What do you think you're doing?"

"… leaving." Ichigo, even though he couldn't see past sunda's vidor, could feel the other man's stare burning through him. Ichigo gulped. For some reason, this man was intimidating him…

"uhhh… okay. You can go, I suppose…"

"I do plan to come back…"

"Oh." Ichigo looked a bit surprised, but shrugged it off. Who would ever want to escape this hell, but then willingly come back?!

Ichigo couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh as he watched sunda disappear. And now, he was once again stuck guarding the gates to the mansion.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, ichigo could hardly stand up he was so tired. But, of course, he had to help with breakfast.

He went to the same area he had the last time, and tried to cook something at least partially edible. To Ichigo's dismay, Sunda did not show up to help out, so the cooking took a rather long time, and the end result most certainly wasn't pretty.

At least, when the head chef came over to check, he said it looked like poison rather than soup.

The sad thing was, Ichigo hadn't even been trying to make soup, nevertheless a liquid…

Luckily, the kitchen charade was over soon (although Ichigo could not help but wonder if he might've accidentally poisoned Byakuya…). So, technically, this was free time, because Rukia had excused him the duties of guarding her room.

The first thing he did was try to talk to Rukia about his "little plan".

"Oi Rukia…" Ichigo said as he tried to catch up to her. "I was wondering if we could talk about something…"

She was a bit confused, but began following him.

Ichigo led her down a maze of hallways and kept looking in rooms…

Either rukia was imagining things, or he was searching for an empty room.

At that thought, she missed a step in surprise, and fell face first…

…Into a koi pond that they had been passing by.

She had felt ichigo's hand just barely miss the fabric of her clothes, and she had felt a koi fish wriggling beneath her after she hit the bottom.

Oh wasn't this grand? Ichigo had been wanting to talk to her about "something" and now somehow in the process of finding a place to talk she had fallen into a koi pond.

Ichigo reached down and offered his hand to help her out of the water, barely able to hold back a smirk and a laugh.

"Like it couldn't have happened to you, baka!" She yelled, somehow managing to kick him straight in the jaw.

"rukia…"

Oh gawd… _Him_ again?

"I would think of charging him extra if he gets any other… _messes_… anywhere, so could you please refrain from…" Byakuya stopped short, and looked at rukia.

In his mind-

Hair-wet

Clothes-wet

Feet-wet

Pathway-wet

Koi pond-missing a significant amount of water

Kurosaki-dry

Byakuya attempted to add the facts together, but what he got was completely off…

"Kurosaki, why did you push my sister into a koi pond?"

Ichigo, still recovering from his blow to the jaw, had an angry vein on his head now.

"Why the hell would I push Rukia into a koi pond?!"

"… Well, it appears as if you had some reason… Do you wish to share?"

Ichigo slammed his head against his fist, and sighed exasperatedly. "I. DID. NOT. PUSH. RUKIA. INTO. YOUR. STUPID. KOI. POND!"

Byakuya just looked at ichigo with his normal apathetic gaze. It was actually very difficult to keep from running ichigo through with his zanpakutou for his insolence...

But for now, he just turned around and flash stepped away.

"eh…?" questioned ichigo.

Rukia started walking back to her room to dry off (somewhat disappointed that Ichigo had never found his empty room), and left ichigo with a "sorry".

When was this "work to pay off the debt" ever going to end…????

**Hello again! I have something else to ask you all… I just got the Bleach SOULS character book, and… it says that Byakuya's birthday is August 31****st**** and Renji's is January 31****st****… I was somewhat confused, so I went back to the profiles in volume 9… And it says Byakuya's is January and Renji's is August… Do you guys have any clue which one is right?**

**Oh… and… please review, I beg of you! It motivates me! And to all those that have favorite/alerted this story, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH…**

**But PLEASE review! **

**Plz…**


	8. Allies, plus 1, Enemies, plus 1

**Hellooooooo…**

**Somethings been nagging at the back of mind for awhile… I have absolutely no clue where his is going. I mean, Ive got an idea, but… no real "story". I think that's why this story hasn't quite been up to par with my other non-fanfic-related works. This definitely doesn't hit it right. Bu-ut… we must raise the bar so we may soar over it! …Ahem. Oh well, on with the story!**

Byakuya sighed. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

That stupid day was coming up. Soon, the elders would start bugging him about marriage and other unnecessary things. They would say "but Kuchiki-sama, the clan is in desperate need for an heir!"

Like he gave a damn.

Why the hell would he, anyway? He had thought he'd settled the matter of an heir awhile ago, by letting another branch of the family take over. Apparently, it didn't go over so well. The proposal form was actually incinerated on the spot by one of the more kido-efficient members of the counsel.

Greedy bastards.

And now, to top it all off, he had one loud-mouthed, orange-haired Kurosaki Ichigo invading his house. By now, he was beginning to wonder if he was actually sane by telling Ichigo he would have to work off the debt. It had meant that the brat would have to stay in his mansion for even longer, causing even more of a ruckus.

And then there was Rukia.

He had been closely following her every minute he could to ensure her safety and protection from the highly flammable package of teenage hormones that was Kurosaki Ichigo. He had taken note of his odd behaviors, such as dragging her down multiple corridors, seemingly looking for an empty room, and not to mention … _kissing her on the kitchen floor_. If Rukia hadn't cooled him down, he most certainly would've made sure that nobody could even recognize Kurosaki after he was through with him.

Ichigo had better watch what he does.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo was thinking he might've finally gotten the hang of cooking.

He had managed an omelet and some bacon this morning, and was quite pleased that he was able to discern the bacon from the omelet.

He proudly carted his meal over to the head chef, and smiled as the chef poked the bacon with a chopstick.

He turned his head up to Ichigo, "You made this?"

"Uh-huh,"

The chef gave him an odd look but let it go. At least it appeared to be safe…

As Ichigo strolled out of the kitchen, he noticed a man leaning against the table.

He looked normal enough, black hair and a chef's apron on.

But on closer inspection, Ichigo could see a visor covering his eyes.

It was Sunda.

Ichigo looked surprised, but took the initiative to ask him something, "Hey, Sunda…"

Sunda looked up and nodded, "Hn,"

Ichigo took this as a "what" and continued, "I'm thinking about..." He checked the hallways to see if anyone was around. "I'm thinking about trying to get back at Byakuya for sticking me in this hell-hole…"

Sunda looked up, interested.

"You see, his birthday is coming up, and the last time I checked, he wasn't too fond of parties… I think I'm gonna throw him a surprise party,"

And Sunda, for the first time ever, lifted up his visor. Underneath were blazing red eyes.

"I'm not too fond of him either… consider me in,"

Ichigo's eyes widened. He really didn't expect him to agree so quickly but… then again, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Suddenly Sunda looked around. Ichigo could hear footsteps coming down the hall, and the voice of Kuchiki Byakuya along with it.

Breakfast time…

"Ichigo, you'd better get on out of here, you'll be even deeper in than you are now if they find you in the dining hall when they come in…"

Ichigo took Sunda's advice, and made a break for the door to the garden.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rukia sat peacefully in the garden, admiring the sakura trees. She had had an early breakfast, and had come out here to look at the garden. She had always thought it was a nice calm place to be, with peace quiet, and no interruptions-

BAM!!!

Or not.

*huff* *huff* *huff*

Rukia slowly turned her head towards the panting.

Ichigo, of all people, was standing there, panting, with the shoji door he had just slammed through still hanging off his shoulders.

Good thing Nii-sama wasn't around to see this. Ichigo would have to work for two entire lifetimes to pay for this damage.

"Ichigo…" Ichigo looked up at her.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!!" He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and then felt a small hand grasp his shirt and lift him up.

"BAKA! I WAS RELAXING, YOU MORON!!!" She hit him again, harder, but this time in the stomach.

Ichigo shuddered on the ground, waiting for the next blow.

"Fine… Ichigo, you can stay here until whatever you're running from ends, okay?"

Ichigo managed to nod his head and get up, and took a seat near Rukia.

"Hey, Rukia…"

"Yes, Ichigo?"

He looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one…

"Now that we're alone, I can finally talk to you…"

Her eyes widened. Was he going to…? But she didn't know… Hadn't she been wondering? Was this… A good thing…?

"I… was wondering…"

_Continue…!_

"If you…"

_Come on…!_

"Could help me spite your brother."

"…"

"Rukia?"

"…"

"Ummm… Rukia?"

"…"

"YOU MORON!" She screamed, slamming him on the head with her fist. "DON'T SET THE MOOD SO PERFECTLY JUST TO RUIN IT!!!"

"set the mood?" Ichigo questioned. "But I was just wondering if you would help-,"

"No, Ichigo. I won't help you spite my brother."

She got up and left the room angrily.

Ichigo couldn't help but watch her retreating form as she passed back through the broken shoji door.

He sighed.

How in the world was this supposed to work?

**Alright, that's done! And now, to the begging stage…**

**REVIEW **

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE…. ILL GIVE YOU FREE COOKIES. AND TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED AFTER BYAKUYA DRANK ICHIGO'S SOUP THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SOLID. PLEEEEEEEEEEZE….**


	9. Who is he, anyway?

**I apologize this is so short… I've got a million things going on right now… and I also apologize for the lateness… I think I'm developing plot here… oh well. **

**Oh, and since I forgot all about this…**

**No. I don't own bleach. It's a sad fact, really.**

Rukia had stormed back into the house, quite upset. Ichigo had done it now, for sure. There was no way she would be helping him now, not after that fiasco. She had been so sure… and then he just ruined it. Why in the world couldn't he figure it out!

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Byakuya looked down at the food in front of him. An omelet and bacon.

He glared at it suspiciously, then bent down at bit to look at it on eye level.

He poked the omelet with the prong of his fork. Nothing. He frowned, then picked up the bacon with one hand. He smelled it. It smelled… Like bacon.

"Poison…?" He inquired to no one in particular. He returned to his normal seated position, and tentatively took a bite of the omelet.

CRUNCH!

His eyes widened and he felt a small bit of blood in his mouth. He un-gracefully spat out the offending omelet and cursed Kurosaki Ichigo.

...Omelet.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sunda carefully crept around the halls of the Kuchiki manor, trying his best to not be found.

He moved slowly, listening for footsteps. He was not supposed to be in this area. Only Kuchiki Byakuya himself was allowed in here.

He stopped, and examined the walls. He ran his hand over the cherry blossom design there. He suddenly stopped, finding an abnormality, a small raised line. He ran his finger down it, until he came to the floor. There was a small, barely noticeable string that led under the papering. He smirked.

Now Kuchiki Byakuya would get a real _surprise_.

Sunda reached for the string, and was about to pull it, when he heard footsteps from around the corner.

"Shit…!"

Sunda backed away from the wall, and silently sped away from where he just was, just in time to avoid being spotted.

Byakuya slowly moved down the hall, feeling somewhat dizzy after a bit of an overdose of Ichigo-food. It wasn't like he could go hungry… and he couldn't remove the order that Ichigo was to make his food. That would be backing down from a challenge.

He definitely felt sick, but still, he had duties. He was going to have to go to yet another meeting with the counsel, that might turn out quite horribly, since he was in no way feeling well enough to argue. This passage just happened to be the quickest way to the meeting area, and he wasn't one to waste his privileges.

He stopped for a bit to look at the sakura tree. He sighed deeply. It had been quite awhile since he had opened up _that_, but he might have to soon, since he never expected Ichigo to finish.

He continued on, now a bit lightheaded, and paused to take one more look at the sakura tree. He looked away, and continued forward.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Around the time that Sunda was sneaking around the mansion, Ichigo had slipped away to purchase party supplies…

…And sake.

Lots of sake….


End file.
